College of Staten Isla nd Foundation Annual Report 2007-2008 Message from the President Greetings! I am delighted to introduce the 2007-2008 Annual Report from the College of Staten Island Foundation. The Foundation plays a crucial role in supporting our College and providing important funding for scholarships and overall institutional advancement. In my first full year as CSI President, I am honored that the Foundation’s board members have given so much of their time and energy to enhance our school. Their good work has paid off; CSI is on a sharp upward swing. Our enrollment has reached the highest level in CSI’s history, as more and more students are attracted by the world-class quality of our faculty and curricula, as well as the affordability of our tuition. Our entering baccalaureate students boast high school grade point averages and standardized test results comparable to any sister school in The City University of New York system, while our graduate programs, including doctoral programs in conjunction with the CUNY Graduate Center, have drawn hundreds of outstanding students. CSI is building on this success, quite literally, as we work to finalize funding that will allow us to begin construction of on-campus residence halls for 600 students, staff, and faculty. These residence halls will be transformative, providing students from Staten Island and beyond with the opportunity to live on our beautiful and green campus, yet be in the midst of the world’s greatest metropolitan region. As our growth accelerates, our Master Plan and Strategic Plan will plot a sustainable and intelligent map to the future. Certainly, part of that future will include our supercomputer. No ordinary computational machine, the CSI supercomputer, when fully operational, will make CSI home to one of the most powerful computational centers in academia. These achievements, and many others, have drawn the support of the Staten Island community; in the past year alone, Staten Island’s elected officials have secured more than $42 million in capital funding for the College to advance a broad range of projects that enhance the educational experience at CSI. For this we are immensely thankful, not only on behalf of our present faculty and students, but for future generations of the CSI community. This is an exciting time to be part of the CSI family, and as we take great pride in the achievements of the past year, we look forward with immense confidence to the future. Our prospects have never been brighter, and we look forward to the continual advancement of our institution and the people it serves. Tomás D. Morales, PhD President 1 CSI Foundation I would like to begin by personally thanking each and every donor whose financial generosity and diligent volunteer efforts have enabled the CSI Foundation to raise in excess of one million dollars. Under the tutelage of our new I welcome this challenge with open arms. The gift was also used toward advertising President, Dr. Tomás D. Morales, the Each year, we thank our individual, during Staten Island Yankee games and a Foundation had a tremendously exciting corporate , and foundation donors in the portion of the gift was given to the Physical and rewarding year. Dr. Morales’s broad Annual Report . I would like to take this Therapy department at the College. visions and social capital were vital to our opportunity to give special thanks to some •The Stavros Niarchos Foundation: success. of our most generous benefactors and This donation represents the first inter - Over the past several years, I have give you some examples of the programs national grant received by the CSI proudly served as an Executive Member we are able to fund because of their Foundation. The funds were used to of the CSI Foundation Board. Recently, support. The highlighted donors are: enable the College to complete the I was nominated as President of the •The Staten Island Foundation: restoration process of 12 rare casts of Foundation and have accepted this honor. The Foundation proudly supports our the Parthenon Frieze, and to create a James Easley, the Immediate Past President educational mission and recently funded permanent photography exhibit docu - of the Foundation, was instrumental in a program called the Three College menting the importance of Greek laying the groundwork for our continued Lecture Series. The series was designed culture in our society. success. He was effective in utilizing to spark civic engagement, with an •Arlie Anderson: Mrs. Anderson made a personal and professional networking emphasis on the direction of our nation $50,000 gift to the Arleigh B. Williamson for the advancement of the primary in the period leading up to the 2008 Family Library Archives and Special goal of the Foundation—securing phil - Presidential election. Collection Endowment, which enabled anthropic support to advance the critical •Gordon and Lorraine DiPaolo: the College to make strategic acquisitions objectives of the College. In the coming Professor DiPaolo and his wife made a of archival materials. years, I will be counting on my fellow board $50,000 gift to the Gordon and •Northfield Bank Foundation: The members, including Jim, to continue this Lorraine DiPaolo Program Fund. A Foundation established a program that important work. Our challenge will be to portion of the gift was used to make provides stipends for CSI students with uncover avenues previously unexplored significant improvements to the financial needs to work as interns at not - to further advance CSI as a center for College’s communications technology, for -profit organizations on Staten Island. learning and culture on Staten Island. especially for connecting with alumni. •Jean Roland: Mrs. Roland established 2 the Albert & Jean Roland Memorial instrumental role in driving the mission Scholarship by making a generous gift of the Foundation. While it is easy to of $35,000. The funds will also be used marvel at our success, it is to supplement the existing Edmond L. important that we continue to raise Volpe Library Endowment. funds to be used toward programs that •Con Edison: Through funding from will enrich the academic lives of our Con Edison, the CSI Division of Science students. In the coming years, as city and Technology established a green - and state funding becomes increasingly house program at Public School 35. sparse, we will become much more The program focuses on science and the environment. •Michael Shugrue: Dr. Shugrue is a former CSI faculty member and dean. His ongoing gifts to the Shugrue Cultural Development Fund allow the College to host world-class performances, free of charge to the public. The October 15, 2007 performance by the New York Philharmonic Brass Ensemble was attended by nearly 900 people, making it the most widely attended event ever held at CSI’s Center for the Arts. •United Way of NYC: CSI students served as tutors/mentors to students at dependent on philanthropic contributions . Intermediate School 49 and Public School I accept this challenge readily and look 57 through funding from the United Way forward to sustaining the momentum of NYC. The program offers academic established by the Foundation and its intervention to disadvantaged youth. board members. In closing, I am pleased to announce the addition of three new Foundation Sincerely, Board members, Joseph Ricciutti ‘94, Staten Island Yankees President; Brian Laline, Staten Island Advance Editor; and Joseph Rende, National Grid Vice Presi - Robert S. Cutrona, Sr., President dent. I am certain that they will play an CSI Foundation Board of Directors 3 Roads to Success The College of Staten Island offers exceptional students a number of options to enhance their college experience, and become more competitive when they enter the job market. The Macaulay Honors College, The Verrazano School, and the CUNY Teacher Academy are just three of the roads to success that CSI offers to select scholars. MACAULAY HONORS COLLEGE University Scholars at the College of Staten Island are highly motivated students enrolled in the Macaulay Honors College—a special honors curriculum of innovative and challenging courses. Macaulay Honors College classes of 20 or fewer students feature field trips as well as independent and collaborative research, and other creative activities, which students may present at undergraduate research conferences. In recent years Macaulay Honors College classes have visited such destinations as West Point, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. At CSI, Macaulay Honors seminars are taught by some of CSI’s prominent faculty. CSI’s Macaulay Honors College staff also includes a professional counselor who offers guidance 5 and support as University Scholars adjust to college life, choose their majors, and make other important decisions. THE VERRAZANO SCHOOL CSI’s Macaulay Honors College houses a student lounge The Verrazano School (TVS)Vis a selective, four-year program and a state-of-the-art computer lab. Both of these facilities that offers dynamic individuals a unique undergraduate provide comfortable spaces in which Macaulay Honors education, integrating the cultural riches of New York City College students can work together, socialize, and meet with the academic excellence of the College of Staten Island/ informally with faculty. CUNY. TVS offers students the opportunity to be part of an Dr. Deborah Popper, the program’s Acting Director, active, academically motivated learning community in which notes that “the Macaulay Honors College is a critical part of students and professors share experiences and knowledge the many efforts to foster a strong academic community at within a culture of mutual respect and exploration, guided by CSI. It is a small, intense program, and its students work hard, innovation, experimentation, service, and experiential learning. collaborate with each other, and delight in getting involved As part of The City University of New York, The Verrazano with faculty research.